Choose your destination

Extreme Camping – High Above the Ground

Going camping to me has always meant one thing: a nice and relaxing holiday in the countryside. There are others apparently to whom that idea just doesn’t cut it. Adrenaline lovers around the world are getting more and more into a hobby that is not for the faint-hearted – a windy way of getting a good night’s sleep called ‘high mountain extreme camping’.

For this you attach a so-called portaledge, a tent-like construction you lie on while it dangles from whatever spot you’ve attached it to, usually a cliff hundreds of meters above ground. Anyone who’s gone camping before knows about the horrors of trying to stably attach a tent to the ground, imagine having to do that on just one point! I admire the courage of those who go for it, but as for me I get dizzy just looking at those photos.

So how did it all begin?

Portaledges were first developed in the 1950’s when climbers started to do bigger expeditions and needed a safe place to spend the night while on tour in the mountains. The first options looked a bit like hammocks and had their initial trial run in the Dolomites, a mountain range in the Southern end of the European Alps.

The Americans then came up with different ideas to make the long hours in the darkness more bearable: BAT-tents (Basically Absurd Technology) for example, which were hammocks also, but this time came with an optional roof to protect from rain and other weather conditions.

With the development of the still rather uncomfortable BAT’s eventually emerged the portaledges as we know them today around 1980s: now there was a tent with a robust ground surrounded by a metal frame attached to adjustable suspension straps, hanging down from the cliff at a single point.

photo by Phil Box

The surrounding fabric is called stormfly and is highly weatherproof, very stable and strong in order to provide climbers with security and the opportunity to relax their muscles from exhausting climbing sessions. Tents can be bought in a single or double version which offer space for one to two people. The best-known portaledge supplier at the moment is Black Diamond, offering their tents for around 250-700 USD. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, both experienced climbers, explain the function and set-up of such a tent in this video.

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in their portaledge tent at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, photo via ClimbingNT

So why do some people prefer this seemingly crazy way of pitching a tent to the cozy version we know so well? One passionate climber explained the thrill of this new experience this way: “I really found that extreme mountain camping was what I was missing all along. Imagine taking part in an extreme sport. The adrenaline is pumping through your body, you are on the edge and living life to the max. And then the anticlimax: your activity is over and you sit around a campsite toasting chestnuts in the fire. It’s all very nice, and I enjoy a sing along around a fire and a scary story as much as the next person, but it remains an anticlimax. I regularly find myself unable to sleep, as it all seems so mundane. Mountain camping, on the other hand, combines the best of both worlds.” Jolande in Extreme Sports Magazine.

There have been dozens of big climbing trips in other remote areas, such as the Himalaya or Antarctica. One of the most popular spots in the world for extreme camping is Yosemite National Park in California.

photos by Sandy Ritchie and Klaus Fengler

In Germany, the Waldseilgarten, a resort in German Bavaria offers a variety of unusual camp sites, which are positioned amongst huge cliffs that are up to 2000m high. If the mountain cliff is a bit much for you, but you’d still like to experience some of the thrill of sleeping above ground, there is always the option of staying in portaledges attached to trees. Definately one of the more romantic ways of “hanging out” together.

Author:

guest

Are you and your backpack going on an exciting trip and you would like to share your experiences? Do you live in a beautiful place and want others to know all of its secrets? Then write to us ay contribute@travelettes.net and tell us about the story you would like to contribute. Find out more: www.travelettes.net/contribute/

I am getting nervous just looking at the photos! I consider myself adventurous, but I don't think I could go this far. I would be to afraid of getting unlatched and rolling off the ledge in the middle of the night :(

You are always in your climbing harness, even while you sleep. And you're attached to the rock via many points of contact (not just one). So if one should fail, you're still attached to the rock. And if you rolled out of bed, you're still attached to the rock via your climbing harness.The worst part is actually that you have to pack your poo. You can't just drop that off the side of a mountain. And don't drop your sleeping bag. You won't get it back =)

Guys, I would like to suggest you go and read up on this a bit more. For a start, you are the only people I know of that call this "Extreme high mountain camping". Most climbers try to not have to do a bivvy like this because it means hauling more gear along on your climb. If you are on a route that takes multiple days to climb then this is a necessity and also the only reason you would really take a portaledge along. I don't know any climbers that would drag all the extra gear a cliff just to sleep one night on the face.